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gad198

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  1. Let's take a look at the numbers, shall we? From the CDC: Age 85+ group (numbers are similar across all groups age 45 and over, so I used the worst numbers to illustrate this): Number of COVID deaths in that group during the two highest weeks of the pandemic (April 18 and 25) - 10,477 Number of COVID deaths in that group during the last two weeks with full data (ending June 13) - 1,856 In that same age 85+ age group (again, numbers are similar across all groups age 45 and over): Percentage of deaths in that group attributable to COVID during the two highest weeks of the pandemic (April 18 and 25) - 22% Percentage of deaths in that group attributable to COVID during the last two weeks with full data (ending June 13) - 5% Again, from the CDC - in that same over 85+ age group, the odds of you being hospitalized right now with COVID is just a shade under 1 in 200. So right now for the most susceptible group, there is an under 1% chance of being hospitalized with COVID and a 5% (and falling) chance of COVID being the cause of death (with over 90% of those deaths having other co-morbidities that contributed). I'm not saying the risk is zero. But to say that getting COVID is a death sentence if you're over age 70 - or age 85 - is misleading at best.
  2. The other issue with the graph you all are debating is the fact that it's total cases. A total case graph is never going to go down!
  3. I just want to focus in on the statement in italics. If you have large amounts of people decked out in face masks that are using them improperly or are unsanitary (which will be a good bet at a place like Kings Island, especially with as long as people will be wearing them), how is this good for anyone? If two face mask wearers are both wearing unsanitary masks, they may marginally help others, but they're also increasing their own infection chances. I fail to see how that's good for anyone.
  4. @medford - if someone offered me a choice between (1) having access to the park in 2020 with their current reopening protocols and (2) no access to the park until 2021 with a normal (pre-coronavirus) strategy I'd sign up for #2 right now. Going to the park has to offer some sense of enjoyment, and right now all of the "extras" necessary for a visit (reduced capacity on rides, face masks, distancing, etc.) have the potential to suck a lot of fun out of visiting the park. I'd gladly skip this year if it meant not having to worry about having to deal with any of those things next year. Regarding face masks - I simply cannot see how many guest face masks will be kept sanitary throughout the course of their visit. Continued touching and/or re-adjusting a mask makes it unsanitary (in fact, I've talked to about a dozen doctors who have all said that in a surgical setting that if they touch their mask at all they have to stop and go through the whole sanitation process again before they can re-enter). As soon as the mask becomes damp it becomes unsanitary. Coughing or sneezing into a mask without covering your face is a hazard to others. What's the difference between someone wearing a mask improperly versus not wearing one at all?
  5. I agree with others who said that your post was well-written. Having said that, some of the articles that talk about the hospital situation in Arizona also mention a couple of very important points in them. A sampling is below: This is why you can't simply read an article - particularly the headline and first few sentences - and then disregard the remaining context. Reading the whole article yields the underlying reason for the increase in hospitalizations, and an increase in coronavirus patients is only one of the reasons. I'm certainly not picking on anyone in particular, but these kinds of news stories are symptomatic of what's happening in much of the population. Many people only see (often misleading) headlines, cliches and platitudes without getting everything in context. I've been guilty of this too. The sooner we all get away from this kind of behavior the better off we all are.
  6. I agree with the portion about testing. To me, this is pretty cut and dry. If I test negative then there's very little reason for me wearing a face mask. If I don't have the virus that means by definition I can't transmit it. The other thing that the article references is what essentially constitutes an admission that this disease is mild for the overwhelming majority of the population. According to this website (which draws the data directly from each countries health reporting agency), less than 2% of those who contract the virus have symptoms that are considered serious or critical, and that's across all age groups: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-cases/ From the CDC:: Put another way, the odds of me needing to go to the hospital with this virus if I live in the US is 82 out of 100,000, or 0.082%, or 8.2 times out of 10,000. A lot of bad things need to happen for me to have a bad outcome with this virus. First, I need to catch it. According to the same CDC website, 6% of tests are coming back positive. Let's assume triple that are actually positive. That's a 18% chance I catch it (with odds falling with each week that passes). I then have to show symptoms severe enough for me to require hospitalization. I'll use the 2% number above as it's more conservative. Now we're at 18% * 2% = 0.036%, which is 3.6 times out of 10,000, which matches pretty closely to the number I referenced above. For reference, the coronavirus mortality rate as a percentage of the Ohio population right now is 2,500 out of approximately 10,000,000, 0.025% (or 2.5 times out of 10,000). At least 90% of deaths being classified as related to coronavirus around the world had co-morbidities associated with them (hypertension and diabetes are two biggies). Coronavirus makes pre-existing conditions worse, but that 90% co-morbidity number is significant. It means that a lot of people happen to be dying with coronavirus than dying from it. That's one of the reasons why healthy people aren't particularly at risk regardless of age, and the numbers overwhelmingly bear that out. You're absolutely right in that a lot of this data is looking backward. We didn't know much about this virus when the various restrictions were first imposed, but we have a lot more data now. Decisions about this need to be made sensibly with reliable information as it currently stands. We've learned a lot in the last few months, and it's time to start putting some common sense back into how we move forward.
  7. I would argue even that question is moot if healthy people aren't spreading it. High temperature is just one of a few symptoms if you have the virus, so temperature checks probably aren't going to screen out everyone who is symptomatic. The other thing to consider is this...do you remember the last time you had a really high temperature? I do, and the last place I want to be is running around at an amusement park when I'm running a fever!
  8. Just saw this pop up a few hours ago. This has enormous implications if true: https://www.businessinsider.com/who-its-rare-for-asymptomatic-people-to-spread-the-coronavirus-2020-6 I bolded what I believe is the key takeaway. Asymptomatic is just another way of saying "healthy person". If healthy people aren't spreading coronavirus, that has immediate trickle-down effects - the mask debate is largely rendered moot (which would be a huge relief to nearly all of us), the continuation of social distancing, on down the line.
  9. Just jumping back to the subject of face masks for a bit. The World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Sweden both have similar stances: face masks are not necessary for healthy people unless you're caring for someone who is infected. WHO Masks FAQ Public Health Agency of Sweden Info You would think that with all of the diseases that have been floating around all our lives that there would be concrete evidence that face masks are (fill in amount) more effective than not wearing them. Nearly all of the articles, medical and scientific journals, etc. have some kind of qualifier...masks may be effective in these situations; it might reduce the transmission. And there are plenty of studies that have shown that masks do very little by themselves, that hand washing and social distancing is much more important. Most studies also agree that most face masks won't prevent you from getting infected. In the absence of conclusive proof, I think we'd all be better off just allowing anyone who wants to wear masks to do so and not judge those who don't and vice versa.
  10. Just some food for thought here. One of the websites that's tracking the number of coronavirus cases in each country (and even in some states in the US) is Worldometer. On the site for each country is a statistic "Daily New Cases". I've included for consideration a few countries that are similar enough for comparison purposes. Take a look at the "Daily New Cases" graph for each country in the links below and see if you can spot any appreciable differences: United States State of Ohio California Canada United Kingdom Spain Sweden Belarus (least restrictive mitigation measures in the group, and who has been hammered for this by world media) Poland (most restrictive mitigation measures in the group but have since eased a little) I put these here so that you can see that the curve for many countries looks remarkably similar no matter what mitigation measures were taken. The number of cases in Ohio and California has been steadily climbing in spite of the restrictions in each state. Some will say "yeah, but they're testing more for it now". That is true...but it's also true for every other location around the world! If the numbers look similar across countries regardless as to the measures taken, I think it's fair to question whether the strong lockdown measures were (and are) helpful.
  11. The chart below shows the "normal" flu season in the US for the 2019-2020 season. Does the shape of the curve look familiar? It should, because it's nearly identical to the general shape of the US coronavirus curve as it stands right now. There have been a number of epidemiologists that have been predicting that this would be the case since the outbreak started. The chart starts at the end of September and runs through today. Notice the steady buildup of cases early, exponential increases leading to a peak, and then a really quick drop off: The point is that the coronavirus is following nearly the exact same pattern. About the only thing we haven't seen is the back side of the curve, the quick drop off. The virus has spread to nearly every country in the world despite measures to try and contain it. There are some things humans just don't have control over. My main concern in all of this is how the media has portrayed this situation. The overwhelming majority of news stories have been geared to do one thing and one thing only - to keep our eyes plastered on their programs via internet and TV. And it's working. Media viewership and ratings are way up right now (source: Variety). Stories about COVID patients recovering, beaches reopening and updates on states that have eased restrictions have been shoved aside in favor of stories that will keep people viewing, which generally speaking means you'll get items with a negative flavor. Things returning to normal is really the last thing the media wants. Those people who are living "normal" lives right now aren't being reckless - they've evaluated the information available and decided to take a calculated risk. If you're under age 60 and are not in a high-risk health category, then every study we've seen has indicated that group's risk associated with the virus is low. The vast majority of people who do contract the virus are asymptomatic. The most conservative estimates indicate that no fewer than 5 times as many people in the population have had or do have the virus than the actual numbers bear out right now. Some studies have that number at 20 or even 50 times higher. The overwhelming majority of people who contract the virus and do show symptoms have mild cases and recover. Mortality rates are much lower than originally projected. Health care systems didn't crash. Many people right now are fearful because they've been told that they need to be afraid. Some people have evaluated the available information and decided there's very little to justify that fear.
  12. Just wanted to comment on this. In many ways this is an interesting social (or non-social, social distancing) experiment. Only time is going to tell how this all plays out. In the interest of science and knowledge I'm very curious to see how the different approaches play out, because in many ways this will provide guidance on what happens during the next outbreak of whatever is next. One of the things that has me scratching my head right now is just how little attention has been focused on the people who are actually infected and impacted with the disease. Rudy Gobert seems to be the poster child for this virus in the US. It's been four days since it was discovered that he tested positive. Yet, if you do a quick Google search on his current, actual condition there literally are a few vague sentences and a Twitter update from Rudy himself. Why isn't the public at large asking about how the condition and mindset of health care officials and providers, about how they are doing and what we can do to support them? What about the stories of people who have gotten sick and subsequently recovered? I really hope that the net effect of this whole situation is that we get the see the best in people and that we get clarity on what's really important. We've all been affected by this situation now to varying degrees. This situation will eventually subside. The next outbreak of something is lurking. I simply don't want us all to be infected with fear, loneliness and despair. There's a scripture in the Bible at Proverbs 18:14 - a person's spirit can sustain him through illness, but who can bear a crushed spirit? I just hope that this situation doesn't crush our collective spirit.
  13. At some point those who are in school and now off, those who are working from home now instead of going into offices, etc., will have a difficult time staying meaningfully busy and/or productive for weeks at a time without going crazy. This isn't a normal extended break, where people can venture off someplace and enjoy a number of recreational activities. You can only look at a TV or computer screen for so long. Entertainment options or other diversions right now are extremely limited. When this situation subsides, there is going to be a HUGE interest in activities that are currently not on offer. We don't know when things will begin to come back to normal, but when they do, I would expect a big uptick in demand for larger scale recreational activities. People are going to want to return to their normal lives pretty quickly after things calm down. Whether the majority of people are in a financial position to do so is another story. People want equilibrium in their lives and balance. Right now there's very little of either. If your health is good please be thankful for that. Please remember that principal business of life is to enjoy it.
  14. This 100%. Intimidator 305, for all intents and purposes, was a flop. It very rarely has a line more than 10 minutes, and very few people want to re-ride it. It took 8 years after I305 debuted for another large coaster install. On the other hand, the B&M hypers that Cedar Fair has installed in 2008 (Behemoth), 2009 (Diamondback), and 2010 (Intimidator - Carowinds) quickly led to even larger B&M hyper installations in the form of the B&M gigacoasters. The B&M exclusivity contract tied with Apollo's Chariot should have run out by now, so this should be at least an option. A coaster like Goliath at either SFOG or La Ronde would be absolutely perfect for KD.
  15. I did this exact same trip for a number of years. You'll run into school groups at both Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Fridays when the park is weekends only. There will be more school groups at BGW than there will be at KD those particular Fridays. KD is typically only open until 6 those Fridays while Busch is open until 8. Saturday and Sunday are really weather dependent that time of year at either park. Saturday will be more manageable at KD than BGW. If you have any park time available on Sunday you'll probably find the lightest crowds at BGW during the whole weekend then, especially if you get there in the first 2-3 hours after opening. At KD - make sure you get Twisted Timbers as soon as you get to the park and if you see it running. I've ridden the coaster on exactly one visit in my four visits to the park the last two years. Prioritize this and then work to the other rides from there. At BGW - prioritize Pantheon (assuming it's open to the public then) and Verbolten in that order. These will have the longest lines and are the most likely to experience downtime. If you like gelato, the gelato place in Festa Italia serves some outstanding gelato. I highly recommend a stop there. Several people have mentioned Six Flags America. The good news is that if you do that, it won't add much - perhaps an hour - to your overall drive time. Richmond to Columbus is about 8 hours. Richmond to Six Flags America to Columbus is about 8 hours 45 minutes. There are two issues you'll run into: (1) Washington DC traffic depending on when you're the area, and (2) whether you want to go out of your way to go to a park that only has three decent rides and will likely feature one-train ops that time of year. In my opinion, I'd skip this park in favor of more time at the others. Having said that, there is a side trip that you may enjoy... If time permits, I'd strongly recommend that you take a small detour and take a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway in between Lexington, VA and Waynesboro, VA. The exact route I'm referring to is below. Some of the most beautiful vistas you'll see east of the Rockies can be found on this stretch of road. It will only add 45 to 90 minutes extra to your drive depending on how often you stop to take pictures, and it is time well spent. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Richmond,+VA/Lexington,+VA/Columbus,+OH/@38.2075409,-78.8609889,9z/data=!4m35!4m34!1m20!1m1!1s0x89b111095799c9ed:0xbfd83e6de2423cc5!2m2!1d-77.4360481!2d37.5407246!3m4!1m2!1d-78.9072552!2d37.9812919!3s0x89b365c07b93e267:0x3c01c61f14a705db!3m4!1m2!1d-79.0348649!2d37.8932688!3s0x89b3421c98a0a31f:0x68688cfc130d4ab0!3m4!1m2!1d-79.2219643!2d37.8075949!3s0x89b337ea0446d627:0x696a7a0c767b5eee!1m5!1m1!1s0x884cc8d057b0a5e5:0xe81881d4e2830060!2m2!1d-79.4428157!2d37.7840208!1m5!1m1!1s0x883889c1b990de71:0xe43266f8cfb1b533!2m2!1d-82.9987942!2d39.9611755!3e0
  16. It looks like there could be a really nice pop of airtime in the front of the train at the top of the last turn. I will definitely miss the updates once the layout is finished. There will be some work that will be visible from the cam, and it will be fun to see testing videos, but I've really enjoyed watching this coaster be constructed. It's amazing how much Kings Island has changed in a little more than a decade. Diamondback. Banshee. Mystic Timbers. Orion. Four world-class coasters installed in 11 years. Think about that for just a moment. I still think Diamondback really changed the park dynamic. It changed crowd patterns, gave the park a marquee attraction, and showed guests that coasters could be tall and fast and could still be smooth. It has been the most popular attraction at the park for the last decade and really set the stage for the other additions. The B&M trio now will have the highest capacities in the park, which shows Cedar Fair's commitment to guest satisfaction. It's just an amazing time to be a Kings Island fan!
  17. I must admit that the posts I look forward to the most in this forum are the pictures that Waltny provides. In many ways these are better than the pictures the park provides through their blog posts because it gives a better sense of perspective as to just how large these elements are. Great work! I got a chance to drive by the park this past weekend. These elements are much taller than I realized. The large airtime hill is right in between the height of Diamondback's third and fourth hills. The top of the helix is only a few feet shorter than Diamondback's fourth hill. This ride is really impressive against the skyline now. B&M hypers are the most picturesque coasters in the world, and it's still in many ways difficult to comprehend that Kings Island now has two.
  18. I am really enjoying these photos. Crisp, sharp, nice sense of perspective. Keep these coming! The recent set of pics confirm the trim on the large airtime hill. Looking back at the last three B&M megas in the US/Canada, they all have retractable magnetic trims. The trims on Leviathan aren't really an issue at all. You're more likely to have the first trim on the large airtime hill activate than the second trim on the last airtime hill. Even then, it doesn't detract at all from the ride experience. The trim on Fury's hill is more variable. Early in the day - or on cooler days - the trim may not activate at all. Later in the day - or on warmer days - it definitely will activate. Generally, you'll know if you'll get trimmed if the turnaround provides a nice pop of airtime. The stronger the airtime in the turnaround the stronger the trim will be when you reach the airtime hill. Because of the speed at which you go over the hill you still get fantastic airtime over the hill regardless if it activates or not. The trim is still noticeable, but it's really more of an inconvenience. The trim on Mako is the most variable of the three. The odds of you getting trimmed are almost directly proportional as to how many people are on the train. On trains that are half full or less odds are you won't get trimmed at all. The resulting airtime on that hill is amazing when you don't get trimmed. If the train is more than than half full then you'll likely get trimmed. That trim is assertive and you can really feel it, especially in the front of the train. It noticeably cuts down on the airtime, but interestingly enough it doesn't really affect the airtime on the next two hills. The difference between a trimmed ride and an untrimmed ride is significant. B&M puts trims on these sections of the rides to reduce the forces going into the next part of the ride, which is usually a turn with significant positive Gs. It's really hard to know exactly how the trim on Orion reacts until we all get to ride it. My initial guess is that because of the height of the hill and the positive Gs on the next part of the ride, the trim will probably fall between Fury and Mako - strong enough to be noticeable on warmer days, less so on cooler days or on trains with fewer riders.
  19. I don't think it's unreasonable for anyone who is following this project to be disappointed in the webcams being down. This is Kings Island's longest, tallest, and fastest steel coaster. Kings Island may never build another coaster of this magnitude. Sometimes we (myself included) take a lot of these larger coaster installations for granted. We've had Diamondback (a world-class hyper), Banshee (a world-class inverted), Mystic Timbers (a world-class wooden coaster) and Orion (what will be a world-class giga) all within a just over 10-year timeframe. How many other parks can we think of that has received these kinds of installations within that same timeframe? The economy has been a tailwind during that time, but there's absolutely no guarantee that will continue to be the case moving forward. Cedar Fair has already come out and said that these larger installations are likely going to slow down. Kings Island is very unlikely to see this kind of marquee installation again for a LONG time, and as such, this is going to be their flagship coaster for a LONG time. Missing out on seeing the progress of a coaster that we've all been (1) waiting for a long time to be built, (2) were overjoyed to have announced, (3) is currently under construction, and (4) may not see an equivalent scale coaster built at this park ever again is definitely disappointing. The construction work being done now is literally the first or second thing that most Kings Island guests will see as they approach the park next year and for years to come thereafter. Regardless as to how you feel about the coaster this is a milestone moment in the park's history. Is it worth organizing a protest and start picketing around Kings Island because of this situation? Of course not. This is a hobby of ours so we want to make sure and keep things in the proper perspective. But in the context of our hobby this is absolutely an incredibly exciting time, and to be missing out on some of this for whatever reason the webcams are down is a bummer. Hopefully we'll continue to have those charitable posters continue to post pictures from publicly-accessible areas to satisfy our curiosity!
  20. Has the title of this thread been changed? Decombing 2020
  21. All of the newer B&M hypers - those built after 2005, are all fantastic. The only B&M coaster I haven't ridden in North America is Goliath at La Ronde (long story!) so I can't comment on that one, but needless to say I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Fury, Mako, Diamondback, Goliath at SFOG, Behemoth and Leviathan are all in my top 10 overall coasters. If B&M is behind this project the ride will be incredibly fun regardless as to how long the ride ends up being. Fury 325 is a better ride than Leviathan. The only thing that a lot of people wished - myself included - is that Leviathan were a little longer. It just feels like Leviathan is way shorter than Fury 325. Out of curiosity I checked out POVs of each coaster from the start of the first drop to the final brakes, and there's an eight second difference in ride time between the two coasters (50 seconds for Leviathan vs. 58 seconds for Fury 325). Eight seconds! The first drops on either coaster are the among the best first drops on any coaster. Very few people will be complaining once this coaster opens. I would be shocked if this coaster does not have at least a 300' lift height. The visual aspect of having a huge lift hill is part of the draw of these coasters. You also have the marketing aspect to consider. The marketing people would prefer not to qualify that the coaster isn't 300' tall, but it does have a 300' drop. It's much easier to say that the coaster is over 300' tall. I would also be surprised if: the trains are anything other than straight 4-across and 32 seats total the total track length is less than Diamondback the ride uses any of the former SOB plot of land Kings Island isn't going to overthink this. They already got the hardest part right - making the decision to partner with B&M to do this project. They know that they only have one opportunity to build a coaster of this magnitude and they've had plenty of time to consider how to best leverage their available resources. One of the world's best coasters is coming to Kings Island. I really hope that everyone who has a chance to follow this project realizes how fortunate we are. Six Flags and Busch season pass holders have a nearly zero chance of ever seeing a project like this at any of their respective parks anytime soon. Are there going to be things about this project that some people will question or dislike? Sure. Just remember that the opportunity to follow along with a project of this magnitude at your home park will only come along a few times in your life. Make sure that you remember this time for all of the right reasons. One of the world's best coasters is coming to our park!
  22. Just wanted to comment on a couple of things: In the first picture that sixohdieselrage just put up today (thank you for putting up those great photos by the way!), you can see that towards the bottom of the cleared area towards the end of The Beast covered shed that there is a line of trees starting to be cleared. If you look at the photos that sixohdieselrage posted last week on page 14, I would direct your attention to the fourth photo in that post. https://KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34621-decoding-2020/&do=findComment&comment=817208 You'll notice that while the angle of the photos isn't exactly the same, there is definite tree clearing in that area now that wasn't present in the April 27 photos. I think that is a pretty clear sign that the clearing has not reached its full extension in that direction yet. If that is the case, I think the odds of this project interacting with the old SOB plot will continue to go down with time. I think Cedar Fair will choose pretty bright colors for this project. Remember that this coaster is going to be in the back of the park. That is pertinent because the back of the park is a long way from the I-71 highway. They are going to want to make absolutely sure that this coaster really stands out even from longer distances to accentuate the height. I think that's one of the reasons that they originally put brighter yellow paint on Diamondback's lift hill and then used softer tones on the rest of the coaster. Personally, I'm with others here that have expressed a desire for a GateKeeper blue track with white supports combo. The white supports on GateKeeper and Fury really make those coasters pop on the skyline. If the Polaris or Orion names are used I think that will further lend itself to spacey kinds of colors - gray, silver, white, black, softer shades of blue. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the rest of this project develops!
  23. This 100%. My first thought anytime I see a front-of-line option is "does this seem like a good value?" I think $850 is a really good price point. It's way too expensive for the person making a few visits a year and it's a good enough value for anyone who visits 10 times or more. I also agree with you that price hikes for the daily Fast Lane Plus options would be in good order to cut down the numbers of people in the Fast Lane lines, thus increasing the benefits for those who do purchase Fast Lane.
  24. I rode this last Friday. Overall, I'd say that the ride is good. I think the ride is fun and it definitely fills a niche within the park. I respect everyone else's opinions. Having said that, I don't really think that there's anything particularly memorable about this ride. The ride was designed to be a more family-friendly launch coaster and Mack certainly succeeded in that objective. The seats and restraints are comfortable. Load times were a little long and the ride seems to be having some early season hiccups, so hopefully that gets straightened out before too long. Those of you heading down to ride will want to hit this first because of some of the technical issues. I think Kings Island would definitely benefit from a coaster like this at some point, but there is absolutely no way I'd be in favor of getting one of these before a B&M gigacoaster. The possibility of B&M gigacoaster 3.0 interests me WAY more than a third launch coaster at Kings Island. Most of the guests who just got off the ride or were chatting about the ride elsewhere in the park all said pretty much the same thing - that it is a fun coaster for what it is but not something they were dying to get back in line for again quickly. My final grade would be a B-.
  25. Manta and Tatsu - the best B&M flyers in the US - are really, really good rides. Having said that, they aren't what I would consider re-rideable coasters. The forces that those rides exert can be a little uncomfortable given the position you're riding in, and as a result, I very rarely have a desire to immediately re-ride. One of the reasons that a B&M giga is going to work well at Kings Island is because of a high re-rideability factor. I always want to immediately re-ride the best B&M hypers - Diamondback, Fury 325, Mako, etc. The ability for a ride to be both thrilling and re-rideable is a very difficult thing to achieve in a ride, and that's one of the reasons that B&M hypers have been extremely successful for the Cedar Fair chain. They're really fun rides, they move a lot of people through, and they are really tall which makes people talk about them. People of all ages like B&M hypers. I don't really think the same can be said of the B&M flyers, at least not to the same degree. I think Banshee took care of the "adding inversions" to the park's lineup very well for the time being. The park needs a "here's our no-doubt-about-it-we're-putting-this-on-all-our-brochures-and-billboards-and-commercials" signature ride. Cedar Fair is not going to overthink this. Diamondback was the best addition to the park in the last 30 years. Some may debate that, but if you look at the popularity Diamondback has enjoyed these last 10 seasons, the high guest satisfaction, high uptime, ridership numbers and hourly capacity I'm really not sure that there's a case to be made for any other attraction. Adding something that will top Diamondback will make everyone happy, and I look forward to seeing what B&M can do with a giga on the land available to them.
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